


Midnight Meeting

by LottieHolmes



Series: Kaitou Kid vs. the Black Organisation [1]
Category: Magic Kaitou, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: F/M, Romance, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 06:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/884012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieHolmes/pseuds/LottieHolmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoko has a bad quarrel with Kaito at school about Kaitou Kid which upsets them both. That night she wanders onto a lonely rooftop after a hint from Kaito's mother and finds the Kaitou Kid there...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fight and Flight

Midnight Meeting  
Chapter 1:

Hakuba sighed and brushed his fringe out of his eyes wondering whether it was worth it to try and intervene in Kaito and Aoko's argument that was rapidly rising in volume and was giving him a headache as well as the rest of the class.

He had never seen them disagree like this before and he had seen a variety of quarrels that were always interesting to watch if you found Kaito annoying which he did. Normally they would have a light disagreement without anything getting out of hand, then Kaito would check the colour of Aoko's underwear and finally she would chase his around the classroom with a mop before giving up and leaving it for another day. Then it was done. Over with. Simple. No lasting consequences for anyone apart from the occasional broken mop. However this one was very different.

For example the rest of the class were watching them with their full attention which was unusual for teenagers of that age who normally ignored them, intent on their own conversations and gossip. Secondly, Kaito hadn't flipped Aoko's skirt which wasn't like him; normally he could never resist the temptation no matter how unsuitable the situation. Lastly both Kaito and Aoko's faces were red and his poker face wasn't in sight, but one thing was the same, they were arguing on the same subject; the Kaitou Kid.

"Do you know how many times I have been let down by my father to chase some criminal that prances around in a white suit like he's the cleverest person in the world? Do you know what it feels like to be second best to a thief in terms of your father's attention? All he ever thinks about is the Kaitou kid and he never spends any time with me anymore. Do you know what it feels like? Do you? Of course you don't." Aoko screamed in one impressively long breath jabbing Kaito in the chest for emphasis with her finger.

She sighed heavily and the penny drop and she realised the significance of what she had just said. Her arm dropped to her side. "Sorry," she muttered knowing that she would be hurt if things were the other way round and she had just been reminded that she didn't have a father.

She braved a look at Kaito's face. His poker face was back and he was looking anywhere, but her.

"I'm sorry," she repeated louder.

Still Kaito wouldn't look at her.

Hakuba opened his mouth to intervene and comfort Aoko, but Kaito saw him approaching out of the corner of his eye and glared at him daring him to make a move. Hakuba promptly closed his mouth and retreated.

"Kaito?" Aoko whispered fearfully, afraid that her friendship with him was now broken and wished he would at least look at her.

He replied a few seconds later, but it felt like years to her. "It's okay Aoko. I understand how you feel. Kid isn't worth it," he said in a serious tone that was completely unlike him which made Aoko even more worried that their friendship was broken beyond repair. "I'll be going now. Tell sensei I've caught a cold and probably won't be in for the rest of the week." He gave her a weak smile and turned and left the room.

"Kaito, wait," she called after him, but it was too late, he had already left.

The classroom was now deathly silent and had an atmosphere to rival a graveyard. Aoko could feel everyone's eyes on her as she straightened her desk and righted a chair that had been knocked over during the quarrel. She ignored the stares and sat down dejectedly at her desk wishing for school to end quickly so she could go to Kaito's house to apologise properly.

After a look from Hakuba the class hastened to take their seats. Within minutes normal conversation had started up again, but most people were glancing at Aoko who had her thick hair in front of her face to hide the tears that were slowly pooling and running like a stream down her face.

As she predicted school ran at a snail's pace and felt like it lasted for an eternity. Just as she felt that she couldn't hold on any longer the bell rang and she was free from all the staring and sympathetic glances at last. At lunchtime she had sat by herself staring out the window with a faraway look on her face. Keiko had sat next to her briefly to ask her if she was okay and Aoko had replied in a cold tone that she was fine and resumed her gazing out the window. The teachers hadn't been too concerned about Kaito's absence; he often missed school and always managed to catch up.

Aoko practised her apology on her way to his house and berated herself repeatedly for not thinking about the words that she had been saying in the argument. She wondered whether she should buy an apology present or promise never to wear fish underpants ever again. She was mulling this over as she reached his house which evoked lots of happy childhood memories of coming over to play and being entertained with magic tricks from Kaito and his father Toichi Kuroba. Aoko swallowed as she remembered that aftermath of his tragic death. She hadn't seen Kaito for weeks afterwards and ever since then he had used a poker face.

She raised her finger to ring the bell and hesitated. She wasn't sure how accepting Kaito would be of her. Would he even listen to her or would he slam the door in her face? Aoko knew that if she didn't make up her mind she would lose her nerve and run away.

She closed her eyes and rang the doorbell. She heard steady footsteps with no hesitation come to the door to answer it. Aoko brightened. Maybe Kaito was in a better mood and was willing to forgive her? She smiled and it faded as the front door was opened to reveal Kaito's mother.

"Hello Aoko. I haven't seen you in a while. Have you come to see Kaito?"

"Yes I did come to see him," Aoko replied already guessing her answer.

"I'm afraid he's out. He came home this morning with a stony expression on his face and seemed rather upset. Did you two have a quarrel?" she asked shrewdly.

"Well, yes," Aoko admitted meekly. "Is he in?"

"I'm afraid he left after dumping his school bag here. Said he needed to think about something. Sorry Aoko. Was it the usual argument again?"

"Yes it was about Kid and it got out of hand," Aoko sighed. "Do you know where I could find him?"

"I'm afraid I don't know," she replied. Then she saw the expression on Aoko's face and took pity on her. "Listen if you wander onto a rooftop tonight, say the rooftop of your house you might find your answer," Kaito's mother smiled knowingly.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Aoko stuttered completely bamboozled as to what Kaito's mother was trying to tell her.

"Do it and you'll see," she smiled again and started to close the door. "It was nice seeing you. Good bye Aoko."

"Wait-" Aoko was cut off when the door firmly shut in her face.

After shutting the door Chikage mother turned to the teenage boy that was sitting hunched at the foot of the stairs with his head in his hands. The boy felt her gaze and looked up to meet her stare scowling with his fringe falling into his eyes.

"Thanks for basically telling her that I'm Kaitou Kid," he said sarcastically. "But she will never work it out though. She's too trusting. It's one of her good traits as well as being one of her bad ones."

"Exactly. That's why tonight you must stop the lying and tell her the truth."

"If I do she will hate me for the rest of my life and will never want to see or speak to me again. I don't want that to happen."

"If you don't Kaito, you will be lying to her for the rest of your life. She loves you, she won't be able to hate you forever. Just try it," she suggested with a serious expression knowing that it is impossible for a person to keep lying forever. "How do you think I felt when I found out that your father was Kaitou Kid? I was mad mainly because I discovered it myself rather than him telling me, but I forgave him. If she really loves you the hate can't last for long."

"Maybe. But she will feel betrayed and I don't even know if she likes me," he argued.

"Kaito. Just have the guts to tell her. If you can't at least tell your childhood friend the truth you'll be too afraid to destroy Pandora."

"You're right," Kaito agreed sitting up and checking the time. "I'll go tonight. Geez, you could have at least specified a time frame. I could be hanging around for ages waiting."

That night Aoko had the house to herself as her father had called to say that he had found a lead on his current case and was on a stakeout and would be coming home after work the next day and wouldn't be going out for dinner with her like they had planned. Aoko didn't find it strange as she was completely used to having her plans with her father fall through at the last minute. When this happened she normally called Kaito over and they watched scary movies whilst eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream, but eating ice cream didn't feel the same without Kaito there to flip her skirt and make derogatory comments about her body. She missed him.

Aoko looked up and the clock on the wall of the kitchen where she was debating whether to make rocky road cookies to give to Kaito as a peace offering the next day. It was 10 o'clock and it was dark outside and there was a new moon shining in the sky. All evening she had been trying not to think about her conversation with Kaito's mother but it kept creeping into her mind like a persistent virus, Why was going on to the roof so important? Why did it have to be at night?

These questions kept on repeating themselves in her head, until she was sick of them and knew the only thing to do was follow the vague instructions that she had been given. She put the chocolate away and stood up, ready. Then she paused. How was she supposed to get up onto the roof anyway? The roof of her house may have been flat, but there wasn't anything like a convenient trapdoor or anything. It was going to have to be an outside job.

Aoko ran up to her bedroom tripping herself up in her haste to get there and threw open her window to the widest. She leaned out and looked to the left. She found that she had remembered correctly; there was a drainpipe that went all the way up to the roof that was firmly attached to the wall of the house with brackets and should be strong enough to take her weight without breaking. The only question left was whether she was strong and fearless enough to climb up?

She balled her fists and thought of Kaito to psych herself up. If he were here he would just dance up it in that annoying way of his, she thought to herself. Then why couldn't she do it too? There wasn't that much of a distance between her bedroom window and the roof and after all she did have very strong arm muscles from all of her mop wielding. She could do this. She was strong enough.

Aoko stuck her legs out the window first and manoeuvred the rest of her body out so she was perching precariously on the thin outside windowsill. She balanced one foot on the pipe bracket that attached it to the wall, wiggled it around a bit to ensure that it was strong enough, took a deep breath and moved her body to the left so she had left the delicate safety of the windowsill and was now hanging onto a drainpipe for dear life. If she slipped now it would like she had committed suicide from throwing herself off the roof.

Aoko craned her neck to see how close to the drainpipe that circled the roof and she was planning on using it to pull herself onto the roof. She increased her grip with her right hand which was her strongest and stretched with her left hand to find out if she could reach the pipe. She discovered her hand could only just grip it if she stood on her tiptoes and stretched as far as she could. Aoko dropped her arm back and took another deep breath. She was going to need it.


	2. Confessions

Midnight Meeting

Chapter 2

Aoko stretched both her arms up and balanced on her tiptoes to grasp the pipe and swung on it and slid her hands along it like it was the monkey bars in the children's play park. Now she was hanging off the pipe the only question left was how she was going to pull herself up onto the roof. Her legs were dangling into empty air and her arms were starting to strain and feel fatigued. She didn't think she had enough strength left to pull herself up onto the roof and black dots were starting to form on the edges of her vision. She felt sick and unable to go on. Aoko knew that she couldn't hang there forever until morning.

I can't get stuck here, she told herself. There's no one out here to help me. Why did I even do this in the first place? Aoko's grip on the pipe slackened and she felt her fingers start to slip.

"H-help," she murmured feebly and was shocked to realise how weak she had gotten within a matter of minutes. "I can't go on."

"Take my hand," a familiar voice rang out clearly into the darkness.

"Kaito?"

A hand attached to an arm stretched down from the roof and she found that she could vaguely make out a face that she thought looked like Kaito's. Her heartbeat quickened and she lifted one shaking hand of the pipe and grasped the hand gratefully.

"I'm going to pull you up, so hold on tight," the voice instructed.

Aoko hazily noticed that she was being pulled up onto the roof slowly, but steadily. She didn't care that arms felt like they were being pulled out of her sockets; at least she wasn't hanging onto a drainpipe anymore. When her legs finally found themselves on solid ground they had several scratches on them from being dragged along the concrete. She brushed the dirt off her legs whilst catching her breath. Her vision cleared and she turned to look at the person that had rescued her from a certain death.

She saw a young man with dark hair dressed in pristine white with a matching top hat and a monocle over one eye. Aoko rubbed her eyes to check that she was seeing things right. It was the Kaito Kid.

"K-Kaitou Kid! Aoko faltered. "What on earth are you doing here?"?

He didn't look at her and stared out into the distance instead.

"Aren't you going to thank me for saving your life?" he asked softly, wondering what she would have done if he hadn't helped her. He had nearly had a heart attack when he saw her hanging off the drainpipe as he had expected her to use the sliding ladder that he knew was kept in the utility room in her house. Only Aoko would choose the drainpipe method, he smiled to himself under the mask of his poker face.

"Thank you Kid," answered a clearly unwilling Aoko who then repeated her former question. "What are you doing here? I was expecting to see someone else."

"Oh really. Am I not good looking enough for you," he jested spinning around to look at her.

She scowled. "Somehow I don't find you attractive. Only old people wear monocles."

"Oi. I'm the same age as you," Kaito said inwardly winced when he realised what he had let slip. Damn, he thought to himself. Why couldn't he control himself when he was around her?

"You're the same age as me? But my Dad has been chasing you for years. That's impossible," Aoko remarked, puzzled and trying to do the calculations.

"Why don't I tell you all about it?" he suggested gesturing for her to sit on the edge of the roof.

Aoko complied, aware that she had no other choice as the only safe way for her to get off the roof would be with his help. Besides she could always pick up some hints as to his identity and pass them on to her father who was desperate for any lead on him. She sat down on the cold ground with her legs swinging off the roof and peered at the brilliant view of Tokyo and its bright neon lights. Kid came and sat down next to her. Her reaction was to shuffle away slightly; she wasn't comfortable being in such close proximity with her worst enemy.

Kaito felt her unease and decided to put her at ease in his own way. He leaned over to touch her hair. She held her breath and resisted the temptation to slap him.

"Nakamori-san, I believe that there's something in your hair."

He pulled out a white dove from her hair and despite herself Aoko smiled. Kaito couldn't help, but smile too. When she saw him Aoko's smiled dropped.

"I wasn't smiling at you Bakaito Kid. You reminded me of someone I like," she blushed. "He likes pulling out doves and various other animals from all kinds of places. His favourite is my skirt though."

"Sounds like a fellow magician to me. So how much do you like him?" he enquired casually, not expecting her to tell her arch nemesis.

"I like him a lot, but I know he doesn't feel the same way," Aoko replied, then stopped when she remembered who she was talking to. "Why am I telling you all this? I've never told anyone before."

She put her head in her hands, shocked that she had admitted, to the Kaito Kid of all people that she liked Kaito. He patted her head comfortingly.

"Don't worry. I won't tell him. It can be our little secret. You know, you could just ask him how he feels about you. It won't do any harm."

His tone was calm, but in his head Kaito was having a mental celebration. Yes! She likes me! Time to confess.

"I can't ask him. We had a really bad argument about you at school today and I haven't seen him since. I came up here to look for him after a hint from his mother. I have no idea why she said up here though. So, come here often Kaito Kid?" Aoko asked lifting her head up. "Is this a regular habit I should be concerned about?"

"Actually Kuroba-san told me to come up here," he admitted knowing that he wasn't exactly lying to her. "She wanted me to tell you about being Kaitou Kid."

Aoko wondered how the two knew each other and had contact. She conceded that the Kuroba family must have lots of connections with magicians- including the criminal ones.

"So, tell me about yourself then."

"Where should I start?"

"At the beginning."

"Nah. That's too easy. I'll start in the middle," Kaito told her with a wink.

Aoko shrugged and waved her hand at him indicating he should carry on.

"As some people have probably guessed there had been another Kaito Kid. He was doing this... night job as Kaito Kid when he was approached by an organisation. A not very legitimate organisation. They wanted him to obtain a certain jewel with some unique properties."

"What was this organisation called? Why did they want him to steal this jewel?"

"The organisation is, unfortunately still around. There's no official name for them, but I like to call them the Black Organisation as they all wear black and are a bunch of heartless killers and crooks."

Aoko shivered when he said that. Kaito continued with his explanation after checking that she wasn't really cold.

"They were looking for a jewel named Pandora. It is supposed to have another jewel inside it and grant immortality. I don't know why they want it and I don't want to know either."

"What happened to the first Kaito Kid?" Aoko guessed what he was about to say next by the way he described them with so much hate.

"They killed him because they clashed and he refused to work with them. They knew his real identity and they made it look like an accident. I didn't know the full truth until I... met them last year at a heist."

"Can you tell me who the first Kaito Kid was?"

"All I will tell you for now is that he was my father and I'm doing this to avenge him and stop them from getting Pandora and using it for devious, evil things."

She took all of what he said in and processed it thinking about what she would have done if she was in his position and she knew she would be doing the exact same.

"You don't seem so bad after all. Maybe I should stop making Anti-Kid posters and get rid of my voodoo dolls." Aoko produced one out of her pocket and handed it over being careful not to knock the fifty pins that had been jabbed into it with malice and hate.

Kaito looked at the meticulous detail of his face and clothes and wondered why she hadn't noticed the resemblance between Kaito Kuroba and the Kaito Kid when she had been making it. He was touched that she was giving him her voodoo doll. He handed it back preferring hers to the one that Akako made that actually worked.

"Keep it. You can use it as a pincushion instead. It doesn't works as a voodoo doll anyway."

Aoko returned it to her pocket and thought of another question to ask.

"Are you any closer than your father to locating Pandora?"

Kaito shook his head. "No. I keep hearing things, and then they turn out to be baseless rumours. I think that the Black Organisation is behind that. So I steal other gems to distract them. It could go on for years."

It was Aoko's turn to pat him comfortingly. She couldn't help it as he sounded so sad. "Don't worry Kid, I'm sure you'll find it one day."

Kaito was momentarily shocked that she had willingly patted the person that she claimed to hate the most and wondered if it was the best moment to tell her the truth about who he really was. He decided to go for it before he lost his nerve.

"Do you want to know who I really am?"

"You don't have to tell me. Remember I am the daughter of the police officer whose job it is to arrest you."

"I'll risk it," Kaito said, his heartbeat increasing. He stood up, grabbed her hand and pulled her up so they were standing opposite each other."

"Do you trust me Aoko?" he asked.

"Of course not."

"That's my girl. I'll risk it anyway."

Kaito threw off his top hat and monocle as well as taking his pink tie off. He produced a red rose from his sleeve. "Hi I'm Kaito Kuroba. It's nice to meet you."

He looked at her face which was frozen in a state of shock and outrage. Aoko took a step back.

"No way. You're just playing a trick on me. You're not Kaito. You can't be."

Aoko took another step back to find her foot on empty air. Kaito lurched forward and grabbed her just as she was falling off the roof. He pulled her away from the edge and tried to slow down the pace of his heart. She really did worry him sometimes.

Aoko realised that she was being hugged by her worst enemy and lying best friend a wriggled out of the embrace and elbowed him in the chest and he released her sadly.

"Why didn't you tell me Kaito?" Aoko shouted bursting into angry tears. "You've been lying to me all this time. Couldn't you have just told me the truth? Was that too hard?"

"I'm sorry Aoko. If they find out my identity which they might well do, they'll find out about you too. I don't want you to get hurt too," Kaito was on the brink of tears too.

"Stop worrying so much about me. I should be more worried about you. I mean, haven't you been shot at a lot by my father? Doesn't it hurt?"

"Really I'm okay with it. It's no worse than being hit with a mop," Kaito lied surprised that she was hitting him with one right now. Instead she was more concerned about his welfare.

Aoko wiped her eyes with the handkerchief she kept in her pocket and passed it to Kaito.

"I think you need to wipe your eyes Kaito."

"You don't hate me for being Kid? You're just angry that I didn't tell you?"

"I would have been a lot angrier if you hadn't explained your reasons for being Kid first."

"You're not angry now?"

"Just a little." She held up her fingers to show how much. "I have been suspicious of you and I know Hakuba thinks you're the Kid. He is a very good detective," Aoko observed, her face now back to it's normal colour rather than being red from anger and tears.

"That and he's quite lucky. I gave myself away badly at a heist. I tried to escape across an ice rink from him which is the biggest clue I could have given him."

Aoko laughed remembering how bad Kaito was at ice skating. "We should go again in the winter so you don't get caught out again."

"Ew, no. Wait, you want to go somewhere with me and you don't hate me? Yes!" Kaito beamed happily, truely glad that she didn't hate him.

He threw his arms around her and she didn't resist him at all. He took in her nice scent that smelled like strawberry shampoo and combed his fingers through her smooth hair. Aoko tried the same, but instead, for some bizarre reason he smelled of gunpowder and his hair was spiky. They stayed like that for a while.

"By the way, in case you didn't notice I like you too Aoko. In fact I love you," Kaito whispered into her ear.

"I love you too," she replied.

They both moved their heads forward at the same time and their lips met. Through the warm kiss Aoko could feel Kaito's smile. He looked into her perfect blue eyes that shone like pools and deepened the kiss tasting her lips.

A while later Kaito helped Aoko off the roof by using his hang glider to land in the empty street whilst holding her. He was unwilling to let go off her now that they had been so close. Aoko was having the same trouble too. She didn't think she could bear to say good bye even though she knew she would see him at school the next day.

"Good bye Aoko," Kaito said kissing her on the cheek and he hugged her sadly. "See you tomorrow."

"Wait, you can stay. I've got chocolate ice cream."

"Tempting," he replied. "However I think you're even more tempting than my favourite ice cream."

He kissed her again. "Good bye."

"Good bye Kaito. You had better be in school tomorrow."

"I promise."


	3. Kohinoor

Midnight Meeting: Chapter 3

Aoko put her pen down and smiled to herself. Whenever she thought of her boyfriend (she still couldn't get used to the word) she couldn't help but smile. He was coming over to her house that night and was bringing the plans for his next heist to work on with her. She suspected it was just an excuse to spend time with her and she had always wanted to know how Kid planned his heists. She picked up her pen again to write a number in her exercise book and frowned knowing that she wouldn't be able to concentrate on her Math's homework if she kept getting distracted by thought of Kaito.

She recalled how happy she had been the day after he told her the truth.

Flashback

Aoko skipped blissfully over to her seat aware of all the concerned stares she was getting. She knew she probably looked like a madwoman on drugs, but she didn't care one bit; she was happy. Aoko looked up so the class could see that she was fine and not mad. They noticed that she didn't seem upset and took in her smile so they turned back to their friends and resumed their conversations. She patted the rose in her hair which was the crimson one that Kaito had given her. She still slightly disbelieved that he was Kid, but she had to admit that it did make a lot of sense. She wasn't mad at him, now that she knew the reasoning behind the heists.

"Aoko, are you sure that you should be in school?" Hakuba enquired, dragging a chair over to her desk to talk to her.

"I fine," she smiled at him.

Hakuba observed her happy, beaming face and noted the rose in her hair and put it all together to the only possible conclusion. He raised his eyebrows.

"So Kuroba finally had the guts to inform you about his criminal alter ego."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Aoko protested. "We just met and had a long talk."

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," Hakuba said wryly and then looked at something behind her head.

Aoko turned to look and met Kaito's cerulean eyes. He bent down and kissed her and winked at Hakuba who had his mouth wide open with an aghast expression on his face. Aoko laughed loudly which made both of them smile. Hakuba shrugged.

"You won Kuroba. Well done."

Aoko was dragged out of her recollection by a knock at the window and turned to see Kaito Kid crouching on her windowsill. He seemed to love landing on the roof and climbing down. She opened the window and accepted the rose Kaito was offering in between his teeth. He liked to give her one every day and the novelty hadn't worn off yet. She threw her arms around him and nearly pushed him off the windowsill.

"Do you have to come in dressed like that Kaito? It basically telling the whole neighbourhood that I get night time visits from the Kaitou Kid," Aoko reprimanded him, but she wasn't serious.

Kaito kissed her on the cheek and smelled her hair.

"Mmm, Aoko smells nice," he commented randomly.

Aoko hit him over the head with her homework book and kissed him back.

"I've got some good news for you," Kaito said looking suddenly serious.

"What's the news?"

I've heard something about that jewel that I'm planning to steal. It's rumoured to be Pandora."

Aoko gasped and hugged Kaito excitedly. "That's brilliant Kaito. This can be your last heist if it really is."

"The diamond is Koh-i-noor and was formally part of the British Crown jewels, but was taken out to be given back to India after it was given to Queen Victoria as a present, but it is supposed to bring misfortune wherever it goes so it was decided to keep it for displays and move it around. It's currently being displayed in Tokyo Tower in the museum."

Kaito fished out a box from his pocket. "I've already made a replica of it." He opened the box and it caught the light and shone brilliantly. Aoko stared transfixed.

"It's beautiful."

Kaito closed the box and put it away. "It is a possible candidate for Pandora as it only left Britain a couple of months ago and not much is really known of it outside Britain and India. I'm quite looking forward to this one as Tokyo Tower is one of my favourite look out spots. Plus I've got an idea for a prank on Hakuba that might just have some unfortunate lasting consequences," he sniggered.

"Did you bring the plans for the heist?" Aoko asked. "You did promise me that I could help."

In reply he produced a roll of paper from up his sleeve as well as a figurine of him. "Aoko, since this could be Pandora the Black Organisation could be there so I don't want you to come."

"You promised I could help," Aoko pouted. "I'll stay out of the way."

"No. I can't risk you getting hurt. It's for your own safety."

"Fine. I'll stay at home then," Aoko said giving in suspiciously easily, a plan forming in her head. She didn't like the idea of sitting back and doing nothing whilst Kaito was having fun. He couldn't stop her going; she could get in with her father's connections.

Kaito patted her on the head. "That's my girl."

"What are you going to do when you find Pandora?"

Kaito froze in the middle of unrolling the plans on the floor. "Destroy it, retire and live a happy life with you," he answered a little too quickly and kept his gaze fixed on the floor.

Aoko decided to accept his answer for now and interrogate him later. She bent down next to Kaito and looked at the floor plan of Tokyo Tower. Kaito had put his figurine on the observation deck.

"How are you planning on getting in then?"

"Through the front. I'm borrowing your face for night Aoko," Kaito winked and received a pillow in his face. "So you can't come even if I wanted you to."

Aoko sat on her windowsill staring into the distance sadly. She was very concerned about Kaito. If the jewel really was Pandora, the Black Organisation would be there to acquire it before Kaito and would kill him too. She couldn't stop herself thinking of Kaito dying; the image was firmly imprinted in her mind. She slapped her head in a vain attempt to think of something else.

Her phone vibrated once in her pocket. Eagerly she dug it out and flipped it open to find that she had a text from Kaito.

Just about to start.

Don't worry about me.

Love you.

Aoko smiled indulgently and replaced it in her pocket feeling slightly better. At least nothing had happened yet. Kaito knew how much she worried so he had explained his whole plan to her the night before as well as the back up ones. He had also made her promise not to come along and she was unsure whether she wanted to break that promise. He was a professional thief after all and had had lots of practise with people wanting to kill or arrest him. Aoko shrugged and switched her TV on intending to watch the heist unfold which would have been interesting as she knew what was going to happen and she wanted to see if he could really dye Hakuba's hair pink. The doorbell pealed once and interrupted her plans.

"Coming," she yelled to no one in particular, turned the TV off and clattered noisily down the stairs and jumped the last step. "Who could it be? Keiko?"

As she approached the door she started to get a nagging feeling of misgiving as she saw the large black silhouette of the person standing on the doorstep through the frosted glass panes. It definitely wasn't Keiko or anyone from school. Despite her better sense she unhooked the chain and opened the door.

Standing on the doorstep was a hefty tall man dressed in black attire. Aoko had never seen him before and wondered why he was wearing a black hat along with dark sunglasses. It was the hottest part of the summer and no one with any sense wore black. Her suspicions increased and she realised that she was an idiot for opening the door in the first place. She didn't have many options left now to get away.

Aoko laughed nervously, she was starting to panic. The man didn't speak he just stood there blocking the doorstep.

"I'm sorry, I think you must have the wrong house. I don't know you," she started to close the door and the man jammed he foot in the way. Aoko gulped when she saw that he shoe had a metal heel. She only knew one type of person that would have metal heels on their shoes and they weren't a particularly nice type.

"May I help you?" she asked. "Are you looking for somebody?" Sweat was starting to form on her forehead and thoughts of Kaito dying had been replaced with concern for her own safety.

The man grinned and crunched his shoe down on her foot. Aoko winced, but didn't make a sound.

"Nice try girlie. I'm here for Kaito Kid's girlfriend," the man said lighting a cigarette with a plain black lighter. "I know it's you so come along with me."

He grabbed her and pulled her out of the house after slamming the door. Aoko wriggled and tried to loosen the man's grip so she could get away, but she couldn't; the man was too strong.

There was a black nondescript car parked in front of the house that was designed to fit right in and not attract any attention unlike a certain car owned by a member of the same organisation. Aoko dug her heels into the ground and bit the man's hand as hard as she could. The man stopped and let go of her hand. She turned and ran not noticing that the man had drawn out a gun from his jacket. He pulled back the trigger and Aoko felt a sharp pain in her back and crumpled to the ground like a dead person giving up the fight. The man picked her up and carried her bridal style to the car. He dumped her unceremoniously on the back seat and started the engine.

*X*X*X*

Kaito dressed as Kid ran up the stairwell with no signs of pursuit behind him. He smiled to himself, satisfied with his night's work. He had single handedly turned all the police officers' hair pink, knocked them out with sleeping gas and made Inspector Nakamori tear his hair out in frustration that he hadn't thought to check what he thought was his daughter's face for a mask even though Hakuba had suggested it and noted on the absence of her boyfriend.

He ran onto the observation deck and stopped to catch his breath before he checked the jewel. He looked up and realised how stupid he had been. Standing on the edge brandishing a gun was Snake and another one of his henchmen holding Aoko. His heart plummeted.


	4. Tokyo Tower

Midnight Meeting: Chapter 4

There was few seconds of silence as Kaito reprimanded himself for not being more careful about getting Aoko involved and he wished he had left someone to watch her for her safety. He told himself that it was too late for regrets he told himself, it's happened now and you have to deal with it and suffer the consequences of your actions.

"Hand over the jewel Kid," Snake demanded breaking the silence. "Or your girlfriend gets dropped off and has a scenic death that you'll remember for five seconds because you'll die too."

Kaito decided he would have one shot at saving Aoko's life. "I don't know her. Leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with this."

Snake smirked. "You're not very discreet for a supposedly master criminal Kid. You were seen visiting her house in full Kid regalia. You gave yourself away."

Kaito gave himself a mental slap. "Her boyfriend could just be a hard core fan of me with a good cosplay costume."

Snake's reply was to nod at the man holding Aoko. He delivered a swift punch to Aoko's stomach. She made a small noise and shook her head at Kaito to tell him not to give in because of her.

"The jewel Kid. Hand it over."

Kaito produced the jewel from his pocket with a stone poker face that hid the calculations and plans he was hastily making and threw it a little to the right of Snake who fumbled to catch it before it fell. As soon as Snake had moved Kaito dropped a smoke bomb and rushed forward blindly to grab Aoko. He saw her outline in the smoke and reached out to pull her away when he felt a sharp pain in his left arm. He realised he had been shot with a silenced gun.

He tried to persevere, but the smoke cleared too quickly. When all the smoke cleared he saw that Snake we holding his gun which was smoking and the jewel.

"Nice try. I admire your stupidity and bravery, but your time has run out now. I will give you a chance to say good bye to your girl friend if you like. Now I've got what I want I am a patient man, but only for five minutes," Snake said putting the jewel into his pocket. "Actually I wouldn't mind knowing your name first. I know you aren't Toichi Kuroba. I know you won't tell me so I'll ask your girlfriend."

He walked over and pulled her forward. Aoko glared at him balefully, not able to fight due to the handcuffs she was wearing. She had spent the car journey unconscious due to being shot with a tranquilliser dart. She had woken to find herself in a store cupboard handcuffed and gagged. She had no idea what the time was or where she was. Aoko had tried to attract attention by kicking the door, but on one had come to help so she assumed that she was in an isolated place away from the public. She had slumped against the door in defeat and waited for someone to come.

The next thing she knew the man that had kidnapped her was ripping her gag off and she was being dragged to the observation deck. She had recognised that she was at Tokyo Tower immediately and her suspicions about her kidnapping being connected to Kaito's heist had been confirmed. They were in trouble and the Black Organisation had the upper hand.

The only thing that the Black Organisation didn't have was Kaito's name and they wanted her to give it to them.

The man with the moustache took a step closer. "What's Kid's real name? I know you know it."

Aoko muttered something so he had to come closer.

"What was that?" he said leaning forward.

He came another step closer. Aoko appraised the distance and came to the conclusion that she wouldn't get another chance like this. She kicked the man with the gun and moustache in his instep so he was distracted momentarily. Then she turned and threw her weight forwards to head butt her kidnapper. He grunted and took an involuntary step backwards.

Kaito took advantage of the distraction to throw another smoke bomb to help her escape. He grabbed her arm and they pelted towards the stairs and ran down. They heard sounds of shots behind them.

"I'm sorry Aoko," Kaito puffed as they ran. "This is all my fault and should have never have happened."

"It's a bit too late for that now."

"Hurry up," Kaito said increasing his speed and pulled her along faster. "We need to get back to the museum to evacuate everyone from this place."

*X*X*

Hakuba coughed and found he had a crick in his neck from being crumpled in a contorted position on the floor. He remembered in a flash that reason why he had a blinding headache and pink hair and sprang up too quickly. He winced and fought his dizziness. The other members of the task force were starting to stir too.

He had been completely shocked when what he had thought was Aoko had thrown a flash bomb and disappeared. When the flash had terminated and his eyes had cleared Kaito Kid had been standing on top the display case holding Koh-i-noor and everyone had pink hair. Kid had then thrown something else and he couldn't remember anything that had happened until now.

He had to admit that it had been a good plan since he had thought to check Aoko's face for a mask, but hadn't done it for fear of the Inspector's wrath and no one else had thought of it either. Naturally that mistake would have to be rectified for next time, but the chances of him using the same disguise again were a million to one.

His recovery was permeated by shots resonating into the comparative silence. Hakuba knew that they were coming from somewhere above him and he heard the sound of running feet. Without thinking he sprinted out the room and collided with Kaito Kid and a handcuffed Aoko. He opened his mouth and closed it again.

"What the bloody hell is going on Kuroba?" he enquired raising an eyebrow taking in the picture and his eyes noted the blood pouring from Kaito's arm.

"My sentiments exactly," Aoko agreed turning to Kid. "I want a proper detailed explanation about those men after I get the hand cuffs off. I now pity criminals slightly, they're so painful."

Kaito produced a paperclip from his jacket pocket and bent down to pick the handcuff lock. He unpicked it, straightened up and put the handcuffs in his pocket. Aoko stretched her arms out and hugged him. Kaito returned the embrace and then noticed too late that Hakuba had called him Kuroba. He knew it was pointless to keep up the pretence any longer as things had gotten serious with the presence of the Black Organisation. Besides he would be a useful ally and he needed one at the moment.

He turned to him. "Hakuba, in pursuit of us are members of a criminal organisation armed with guns probably have accomplices all over the tower. I need your help."

Hakuba eyed him with suspicion and observed the grim line of his mouth and knew that he was being serious. The face that he Kaito Kid had admitted to being Kaito Kuroba didn't escape him either, but he decided to leave it for later. "What do you need?"

"First I need to get Aoko out of here before she gets put in any more danger."

"What if Aoko doesn't want to?" she protested. "I want to stay and help. Besides my father is here too; he can protect me so I can stay here."

"Aoko, you are going to tell the Task Force that they have to evacuate the tower and this place needs to be empty of people including all the workers and police. You will leave with them. Understood," Kaito ordered wincing as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Remember that I love you. Whatever happens to me I will still love you. Remember that." He hugged her.

Aoko kissed him in return as tears slowly pooled in her eyes and ran down her face and he let go of her as Hakuba cleared his throat. She gave him a final kiss and ran off to find her father. Hakuba waited until she had gone to speak.

"I hope you have a good plan Kuroba. I don't want to have to tell Aoko that you're dead. I don't particularly want to die myself either."

Kaito took off his hat. "I have a plan of sorts that I just came up with. It involves knock out gas and no hair dye."

Hakuba scowled in reply, then he relaxed. "I'll trust you for the time being. I'm in."

A short time later they were running down a corridor that was normally only used by the staff after making some preparations in the toilets. They were halfway down when they passed a man jogging in the opposite direction who was wearing the staff uniform and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. Kaito tripped him up as the man was reaching into his pocket while he was going past. Kaito pinned him to the ground and hand cuffed the man. He struggled, but Kaito was too strong.

"Nice one," Hakuba congratulated. "I was about to point out that he was one of Them and was about to pull out a gun, but you got there before me. Where should we put him?"

"I spotted a store cupboard on the way here. It should be locked. However I always carry my lock picks."

Together they half-dragged, half-carried the man to the cupboard and locked him in. After having to put up with his struggles Kaito had found it easier to knock him out first to minimise difficulties.

"Hakuba, are you sure that you want to go through with this?" Kaito asked because he didn't want to risk anyone else getting harmed and have their life ruined because of him.

"It wouldn't be fair to arrest you without knowing your entire story and agenda," he answered promptly as if it was a silly question to ask and stopped walking as the corridor split off into two directions.

"Well this is where we part. In case it all goes wrong and I die, I'll just say good bye here and thank you for being a formidable opponent. Thanks Hakuba."

He followed the corridor to the left and walked off without a backward glance. Hakuba waited until he was out of sight to reply softly.

"Thank you Kuroba for the exact same thing."


	5. Sherry

Midnight Meeting: Chapter 5

Hakuba played over Kaito's instructions in his head and nodded to himself. He was wearing Kaito's costume, the suit, top hat and monocle. His hair had been restored to its original colour by an apologetic Kaito and he was wearing a black wig so at first glance he looked like Kaito Kid which was exactly what he needed for the plan to work. The tower was now completely clear of the Police and Employees. All that was left was him and Kaito against the Black Organisation.

He tightened his grip on the gun that he always carried just in case of anything- he had never used it until now and took a deep breath like he was going to dive underwater. He stepped out onto the observation deck, hurled one of Kaito's flash bombs, fired two shots and fled back down the stairwell. After about half a minute he heard sounds of pursuit behind him. He allowed himself to smile slightly. So far so good.

He reflected on what Kaito had told him as he ran through the tower at a calculated constant speed. The men that he had caught a brief glimpse of on the observation deck had exactly matched Kaito's description. So there really was a criminal organisation lurking in the background hiding their crimes and never appearing in the foreground until now. This new information completely changed his outlook on crime. He would never see things the same way again.

Hakuba recognised that he had nearly reached the trap that he and Kaito had prepared beforehand and leapt over the almost invisible trip wire that activated the trap and carried on running, but stopped when he reached his planned hiding place. Judging from the thuds and groans that he could hear, he deduced that his pursuers had triggered the trip wire and were suffering the effects of Kaito's new knockout gas.

He strode out from his hiding place and stared down at the unconscious men. Hakuba also noticed that the man with the moustache that Kaito had described in detail wasn't lying unconscious in front of him meaning that he was most likely still on the observation deck waiting for his henchmen to return with news of Kaito Kid's death.

X*X*X

As soon as Kaito had seen the men leave in pursuit of Hakuba he made sure he had his gun that shot real bullets and spare rounds along with the genuine Koh-i-noor that he hadn't checked yet much to his chagrin. He was itching to hold it up to the moonlight to see whether was really Pandora or just another false lead, but he pushed it to the back of his mind as he knew it wasn't his main priority. Kaito was wearing his spare Kaito Kid costume that he had started to carry around in case of accidents. He was confident of Hakuba succeeding and eluding capture. The next part of the plan was up to him to implement. He was going to confront Snake.

It wasn't something he took lightly. He didn't know what exactly to do with the man that was responsible for the death of his father which had completely changed his life and had nearly killed Aoko. To save Aoko and get revenge for his father he needed to capture or kill Snake. Personally he preferred the second option, but it went against his code and nature; he wasn't a killer.

For the second time that night Kaito stepped out onto the observation deck. This time he wasn't looking to escape. He took in the scene. Snake was standing on the edge with his back facing Kaito and he was holding up the fake Koh-i-noor to the light of the full moon. It was completely clear and was obviously not a doublet gem and it wasn't glowing red. Snake turned as Kaito came closer.

"As expected, you gave me a fake one again," Snake observed dryly seeming unconcerned about the gun Kaito was pointing at him and dropped the fake gem onto the hard ground where it smashed into small pieces.

"You've lost your hostage, you can't control me and I'm the one with the gun."

"What do you want from me Kid," Snake enquired who was strangely calm which gave Kaito a bad feeling.

"I want to know everything about your organisation and who killed the first Kaito Kid," Kaito answered, tightening his grip on his gun.

"I instigated his death, but I didn't carry it out. We used it to test a recruit that had become of age. He passed with flying colours and the public saw Toichi Kuroba's death as an unfortunate accident. Fools."

"What is the name of the assassin?"

"Gin," he replied casually with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"Why are you so willing to tell me all of this?" Kaito asked beginning to feel a little scared.

Snake smiled, showing his teeth. "I always have a back up plan and there is always a member of the organisation hidden in the police. Guess who is with your girlfriend right now?"

"You..." He couldn't find an insult that was bad enough to describe him.

Snake took out a walkie-talkie from his jacket pocket. He held down the button and spoke into it.

"How's the girl?"

There was a few seconds of static as he waited, then an ashamed reply could be heard.

"Sorry. I lost her. She snuck out before I could get to her. She's probably in the tower now looking for Kid. I came up with an alternative; I've got her father instead."

"That's good enough," Snake replied and switched his attention back to Kaito. "Shoot me; the Inspector dies. Throw any kind of bomb; the same result. Give me the jewel, the real one this time and put that gun down."

Kaito lowered his gun hand in defeat and threw the real Koh-i-noor which had been concealed in a pouch at the top of his cape at Snake. This time he caught it cleanly.

"Thank you Kid."

He held it up to the moonlight. The jewel glowed red like the sky at sunset and bathed the two who were gazing at it in a red glow. Kaito could see that there was another jewel hidden inside. It really was Pandora; he had succeeded, but he didn't really care; he was hypnotised by the sight. Both stared at the jewel, transfixed. Kaito blinked after remembering Aoko and reminded himself that he had a job to do. He averted his eyes and raised his gun. He closed one eye, took aim and fired. The jewel shattered and the display ended. Kaito sighed in relief whilst Snake dropped to the ground and scrabbled desperately through the broken pieces, trying to rebuild Pandora.

When he realised that it had been completely destroyed forever he screamed and launched himself at Kaito like an animal with primate instincts. He had gone insane. His eyes were wide and his pupils were dilated.

"I'm dead now. I can't go back with this failure. He'll kill me. They'll hunt me down. I'm a dead man," he lamented as his hands found purchase on Kaito's neck.

Kaito tried to fight him, but he found his strength and vision was fading and Snake's howls were beginning to sound like they were coming from down a tunnel. Kaito kicked out blindly with his legs and knocked Snake to the ground. He stood still for a second to get his breath back and clear his vision, then he found himself falling as Snake grabbed his ankle. Snake pulled himself up whilst keeping Kaito pinned to the ground by keeping his foot on Kaito's back. He pulled his gun out and pointed it at Kaito with an uncontrollably shaking hand. He was laughing like a mad man with his head thrown back.

"Goodbye Ki-," his parting line was cut short by a splash of something red blossoming on his chest, next to his heart like a flower.

"What?" he choked with blood coming out of his mouth and crumpled to the ground.

Kaito immediately rolled out from under his leg and looked to see where the shot had come from. He was aghast to see Aoko standing ten metres away from him with her hand outstretched. In her outstretched hand was a gun. Hakuba was standing about a metre behind her with his wig missing and a shocked expression on his face. His face mirrored Kaito's exactly.

"Aoko...?" Kaito whispered.

Aoko dropped the gun and ran over to where Kaito was lying. Her eyes began to water as she kneeled to get a better look at him. She took hold of his hand and noticed the shards of crystal around him.

"Yes," Kaito coughed weakly. "Can you pull me up, please? My arm is hurting, I'll see to it after."

Aoko wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before helping Kaito stand up. Once he was standing he put his hands on either side of her face and looked into her ocean blue eues.

"It's nearly over now Aoko."

He kissed her on the lips not caring that Hakuba was watching or that her hair was an unruly mess or that her eyes were red. All that he cared about was that she was safe.

Hakuba walked past the happy couple with his eyes politely averted to have a closer look at Snake. He bent down and rifled through the dead man's pockets. He raised his eyebrows at some of the items that he found.

"Sorry to interrupt Kuroba, but there are some things here that you might want to see."

Kaito and Aoko looked over at him to see that he had spread various objects out on the ground. Some were flat; there was also a case of something and two hand guns. They joined Hakuba to have a better look.

"That's a photo of me," Aoko said pointing to her school photo. She had no idea how it had been gotten hold of.

Hakuba nodded. "Your address is written on the back. There is also another photo here. This time it's of a girl about your age with light brown hair and a serious expression wearing a lab coat."

He held it up for them to see. "On the back it says Sherry."

Kaito stared at it puzzled. He was trying to place the face; he knew that he had seen someone that resembled her before.

"I've got it. It's that smart ass friend of Tantei-kun."

"What?" Aoko and Hakuba exclaimed at the same time in the middle of examining a flat metal case with "APTX 4869" engraved on the lid.

"Who's Tantei-kun?" Hakuba asked.

"This little boy called Conan Edogawa. I would say he is seven or eight years old. He's very clever, too much for his own good in my opinion. He is a detective."

"A miniature Holmes then," Aoko quipped, jumping when Hakuba started and let out a yelp.

"I know him. I've met him twice; both times during a murder case. He displays excellent powers of deduction. To be honest I did find him a little suspicious."

"I think a word with my other favourite detective might be in order. What's in the case?"

Hakuba passed it to Kaito who opened it. Inside there were nine red and white pills. He closed it again and read the writing on the lid.

"Hmm, APTX 4869. Somehting tells me this isn't over yet. Not by a long shot. We haven't really met many members of the organisation yet. We still don't know much."

"This isn't the end yet," Hakuba agreed. "For now we should explain this incident to the police and press as an attack on Kid by an organised gang that had an agenda against him and used whatever means in their power to kill him. Something along those lines."

He pocketed the photo of Sherry and the case. "You need to leave now Kuroba and I'll deal with the rest. I'm afraid arresting you will just have to come later."

"What a shame," Kaito replied sarcastically with a wink, activating his hanglider. He quickly gave Aoko a kiss. "I'll just go rescue the Inspector and talk to the crowd. Bye."

He briskly ran towards the edge and launched himself into the air.

Hakuba stared after him. "The fact that the hanglider actually works never ceases to amaze me," he muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something?"

"No."

They looked out into the night and down at the crowd of police officers and cars gathered outside the tower. There were lots of shouts of "Kid" in the crowd as Kaito explained through the police loudspeaker on top of a car that he had been attacked and regretfully couldn't return the jewel to the British Royal family because it had been hit by a bullet whilst it was in his pocket. He could also be heard explaining to everyone that Inspector Nakamori and his daughter had been taken hostage in an attempt to control him into handing the jewel over. After he presented a rose to the member of the task force that had climbed onto the car to arrest him, said good bye and vanished in a puff of smoke leaving behind a rescued Inspector Nakamori, an unconscious police officer and the rest of the task force that didn't know what to think.

"He's very good at lying," Aoko commented as Hakuba took off his jacket so they could sit down and wait for the police to arrive. "It's sad that he has to do it so much."

"Yes," he answered whilst trying to smooth his hair down. "But remember it's to protect you and everyone that he loves. You're not safe anymore Nakamori-san. I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on you for your safety. Kuroba will too. He loves you, don't forget that."

"So are we all going to team up to bring down the organisation?"

"Something along those lines."

Hakuba wondered what he had got himself into. He knew it was going to be a challenge that would be dangerous and could possibly take years. Destroying Pandora was only one step and there were a lot more to take. It could go on for years; after all how long had it taken for Pandora to be tracked down? But at least they had one lead to go on; Sherry.

He was looking forward to seeing Conan Edogawa again.


End file.
